While it’s important to have goals, it’s even more important to understand why you’ve chosen your goals, out of all the millions of goals in the world.

I found a really simple and effective tip, while reading this great business book, The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman. It’s called the “Five Whys”. Here’s how it works:

Whenever you set a goal, ask yourself why you want to achieve it. If you want to be a millionaire, ask yourself why you want a million dollars. When you think of an answer, ask “why?” again. Keep asking yourself why until you get into a loop where the answer is “because I want it”, which suggests you’ve gotten to the desire behind the goal.

Here’s Kaufman’s “millionaire” example:

Why do I want a million dollars? Because I don’t want to be stressed about money.

Why don’t I want to be stressed about money? So I don’t feel anxious.

Why don’t I want to feel anxious? So I can feel secure.

Why do I want to feel secure? So I feel free.

Why do I want to feel free? Because I want to feel free!

The answer to each question may seem obvious, but look how we got from a run-of-the-mill money goal to a very deeply rooted human desire, in just five steps!

Once you know why you want to achieve a goal, you can sometimes figure out a more direct way to the desire behind the goal. If becoming a millionaire is really about freedom, look for changes you can make today that will get you there, like quitting a 9-to-5 and starting your own business.